The notion of God, whatever or whoever s/he is, hating anything runs completely counter to any idea I’ve ever heard or could ever embrace about a Creator or the Life Force in the Universe. But sometimes you have to meet the opposing team on their playing field, in which spirit we will stipulate, for the sake of this argument, that God is an old, white Christian man with a long white beard mired in resentment and hatred towards His own creation. It’s a stretch, but stay with me.

We’ve all seen the signs: God Hates Fags! God Hates America (except for the First Amendment part)! God Hates Everyone Except Me!! They are painted and waved by the members (all related) of an itty bitty Kansas “church” that is founded on the one and only belief that homosex is the worst of all possible sins, and that God works tirelessly to destroy our nation and its citizens as retribution for “allowing” it to happen (because there might be a way to stop it). They picket at Pride parades and military funerals and basically anyplace where they figure they’ll be able to get a good spot in front of the cameras, and obsessively spew this singular message. Continue reading Nine-Year-Old Boy Challenges Westboro: God Hates… No One?→

Matthew Vines took a break from his studies at Harvard University in 2010 to study the issue of what the Bible really says about homosexuality. His conclusions should be of interest to all gay Christians, as he explains how the Bible does NOT condemn homosexuality, or same sex relationships. You might expect him to come from a liberal Christian theological background, but his upbringing is in the Evangelical Church.

In this hour long talk given on March 8, 2012, at the College Hill United Methodist Church, in Witchita, Kansas, Vines provides strong arguments that the traditional bias against homosexuality is a false interpretation of Scripture. Calm, articulate, organized, and lacking the fire-and-brimstone oratory usually seen when the issue of homosexuality is raised from the pulpit, Vines explains why the traditional anti-gay animus based on the Bible is wrong, and how Christians must understand that same-sex relations can enjoy the same acceptance and favor in the eyes of their God as heterosexual relationships.